


I Will Follow You Into The Dark

by midnightecho



Category: Les Misérables (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, inevitable sadness, initial cuteness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 14:23:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightecho/pseuds/midnightecho
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by George Blagden's version of the Death Cab For Cutie song.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Love of mine, one day you will die  
But I’ll be close behind; I’ll follow you into the dark  
No blinding lights or tunnels to gates of white  
Just our hands clasped so tight  
Waiting for the hint of a spark

If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied  
Illuminate the ‘No’s on their vacancy signs  
If there’s no-one beside you when your soul embarks  
I will follow you into the dark

It was magical. Simply watching him play, his fingers dancing to each chord with expert ease, his gorgeous voice soft but earnest, the look on his face as he sung… And those lyrics. Those damn wonderful, dedicated, heartfelt lyrics that filled the room, squeezed Enjolras’ heart and put a stupid lump in his throat.

In revolutionary school, as vicious as Musain rule,  
I got my feelings bruised by the leader in red  
And I propped to the bar, as he told me  
“R, you're good for nothing, fool”  
and I hear every word that he said.

It was that second verse that did it – as Grantaire articulated their past, a reminiscent smile graced Enjolras’ lips with its presence. Yet as the verse went on, he felt the sting of tears threaten as he always did when their past was brought up – he always regretted how he used to act towards his friend, the short temper and the condescension, and hearing it in song only made it harder to bear.

So if heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied  
Illuminate the ‘No’s on their vacancy signs  
If there’s no-one beside you when your soul embarks  
I will follow you into the dark.

But no sooner than the line began, the chorus had taken its place, ringing clear and promising, and their eyes met and between them passed the simplest of mutual understanding, an empathy that overrode any complex emotion of the moment and made everything okay.

I will follow you  
If heaven and hell decide that they both are satisfied  
Illuminate the ‘No’s on their vacancy signs  
If there’s no-one beside you when your soul embarks  
I will follow you into the dark.

A smile spread across Grantaire’s lips as he entered the final refrain with renewed vigour and strength, belting the words for all the world to hear, his grin widening unsuppressed when Enjolras returned it.

I will follow you into the dark.

The final note of the last repeated line lingered as it tailed off into the empty silence it left behind. Enjolras lifted his eyes to meet those of his dearest friend. Nothing needed to be said before they leaned close and their lips met, pressed hard against one another, the guitar laid to one side as they embraced, simply thankful for the existence of one another in the same place and time.

 

The memory seemed a lifetime ago, a fading light in the dark face of the death and destruction the soldiers had brought. Up here, with lifeless friends strewn across the floor, Enjolras felt empty and cold. Now he faced a certain end he felt drained and exhausted, all the power and strength he’d managed to maintain throughout the seemingly endless night of revolution dissipated in a matter of minutes. All he wanted, as he faced the barrels aimed at him, was to go out with a flag in his hand. That was an honourable way to go, he thought, as he closed his eyes to the pain and suffering he was leaving behind him.

But then it came, the desperate thunder of footsteps echoing up the stairwell, and Enjolras felt his eyes open again. Through the dust he spied that familiar mop of black curls, that ridiculous collar sticking up out of his waistcoat, his sleeves stained and faded from their original white, and his face, oh his face, so different from that recollection of a serenade. Now Grantaire’s lips were set in a hard line, his jaw tense as he fought back the emotional pressure threatening to take over. Despite his efforts, there were faint vertical streaks through the dirt covering his face tracking up to those brilliant blue eyes, wide and bright and hysterical as he absorbed the situation.

As those eyes found Enjolras’ they froze, at first with panic and desperate sorrow, unable to comprehend that the closest of his friends was soon to be gone too. But after a moment they sobered, accepting the situation reluctant as they were, and behind that look was the spark of recollection. That simple promise from all those years ago hung between them, unspoken but acknowledged:

_If there’s no-one beside you  
when your soul embarks,  
I will follow you into the dark._

Each step Grantaire took towards his friend made Enjolras feel stronger. He admired the downright defiance of his dark haired companion to let these intruders take down his friend alone, watched with an internal glow of fondness as he pushed roughly through the soldiers, ignoring the offence they took, and took his place by his side. Grantaire looked directly into his leader’s eyes and there was that total mutual equality once more. He gave a barely perceptible nod and Enjolras smiled and nodded back.

Together they turned their attention back to the pitiful soldiers, defiant fire in their eyes, hands clasped tight. In one hand Enjolras raised a fistful of red flag, the last legacy of their revolt, high and proud, and the other found Grantaire’s. Their fingers meshed together, and they gripped each other with every last ounce of strength. That comfort of one another was the last thing either of them felt, and even as the bullets tore through them, all that mattered was that their souls embarked side by side.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry. It started off really cute but something inside me made it emotionally painful at the end, so yeah. Sorry.


End file.
